S is for Studebaker

My mother bought her first car when she was 19 and a newly certified teacher. This was unusual in the 1940s. My dad used to pedal over to grandma Klassen’s house, and my mother would put his bike in the rumble seat and drive him home after Sunday vaspa. She continued to buy the car in the family (in those days having one was considered sufficient) about every five years thereafter. Remembering the Packard V8, up on blocks because it was too big and heavy to be a Bennett buggy, she was predisposed toward the Studebaker produced by Studebaker Packard Corporation in the US and Studebaker Canada in Hamilton Ontario. I don’t remember all of them, but I do remember the pink Lark, and the blue station wagon, which Greg bought, but mostly especially the 1965 green Studebaker Commander I inherited when I was 17. The engine was already built by Chevy, but it was their famous 283 V8 engine which made it fun to drive ( fast off the line and a top speed of 120 mph) and reclining seats that went all the way down which made it fun to park.

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